Well, I have been driving myself crazy about all the credit card debt that I have racked up over the last year, and the rates that are on the cards, YIKES! I wish there was a way to quiet my mind and let it all go and just look to fixing it rather than beating myself up constantly! I know that a lot of people are going through this right now, and that seems to help me deal a little, but man this sucks. I also keep telling myself that I have learned a BIG life lesson, and know that I will NEVER use a credit card again. I talked to my brother last night, he works in the finance department at wachovia bank, and he told me to only use a debit card, that credit cards, no matter how you use them, can really damage your credit! They can pull a lot of different things like, not getting your bill to you on time and then charging you a late fee for not paying it, and so on and so on. I have shredded every last credit card I have, and will NEVER use them again. If I don't have the cash then I don't need to get it, period! We are waiting for our stimulus check to arrive any day now, and a chunk of that will start a really good emergency savings account, emergency meaning work on the house, a new fridge, and so on. I was considering trading my car in while I still had some left to get back and put towards buying a car outright, but now with the economy my cars trade in value is the same as what we owe on it, so forget that idea. I guess I will have to go back to work, since the kids are in jr. high and high school now it's really not as big of a deal as when they were younger, they can pretty much take care of themselves. I just need to find something that is during the week and not on the weekends or evenings so that I can still be there for their activities like football games, and such.

Please let me know if any of you are going through what I am going through, the more advice I can get on coping with this the better!